Danger Squad
by S.N.N.E.E
Summary: A Teen Titan gone missing, several villains spotted far from their usual stomping grounds, and the Justice League unavailable to help. What has Green Arrow gotten himself into?
1. A Brief Introduction

_**Hi there! I'm the author! Here's your standard disclaimer. I'm not affiliated with DC Comics, and as such, I don't own any of the characters in this story. Cool? Cool.**_

The Justice League. Some days, it feels like I've known them my whole life. Other days, it feels like I'm meeting them all for the first time again. In truth, if someone were to say out loud how long the League has existed, half of its members would probably smile, and say something along the lines of "look at everything we've accomplished". The other half would frown, and make a joke about feeling old. I can't say which one would be my reaction. I guess it would depend on what kind of day I was having.

That being said, I haven't been a member of the team quite as long as some of the others. I wasn't one of the seven founders, but I had the honor of being their first recruit. My name is Oliver Queen. My friends call me Ollie. Some people even still call me Mister Mayor. To the superhero community, though, I'm known as Green Arrow.

The Justice League was formed in a time of crisis. The general public knows one story, and the League founders and a few other costumed crimefighters know another, but I'm not going to get into all of that. Both versions go something like this. There was a big problem. So big, it attracted the attention of the world's greatest heroes, and by banding together, they overcame the odds and decided that they worked well together as a team. Thus, the Justice League of America was born. Over time, they recruited more and more members, until they pretty much had a global thing going. The general consensus is that the world is now a much safer place, but contrary to popular belief, the League can't take care of everything.

Our mission as a team is to handle the threats that no lone hero ever could, and we do a pretty fantastic job of it, if I do say so myself. The problem is that every now and then, there's a serious issue that gets overshadowed by an even more serious one. Those slightly smaller problems usually get solved, but not as quickly or as efficiently as they would if they were considered League business. Sure, there are plenty of other superhero teams. The Teen Titans, the Outsiders, Batman Incorporated, even the Suicide Squad does a lot of good. But even with all the work they do, sometimes it still isn't enough.

Of course, there are so many of us now that the entire League isn't needed on every assignment anymore. Even if it takes twenty or so heroes to solve a problem, there will still be quite a few benchwarmers. Sometimes, when I'm not needed on a mission, I'll relax. I might go home and watch television. I might spend time with my favorite girl. I might even work out. Most of the time, though, if the League doesn't need me, the people at my day job don't need me, and I've had enough sleep, I can be found fighting crime.

That is exactly what I was doing one day in my beautiful hometown, Star City, when I received a call from the one and only Batman. It was just beginning to get dark out. I was on the roof across the street from a bank, about to draw my trusty bow when I heard his voice in my ear.

"Arrow, it's Batman."

"Bats. Haven't heard from you in a while. What's up?"

"Are you busy?"

"Not really. Just some bank robbers. Pretty run of the mill stuff," I answered, waiting for someone to come out of the building. "What can I do for you?"

"I need your help."

"Can you be more specific?"

"There was a mass breakout at Arkham Asylum about a week ago. My sources say that there were sightings of some of the inmates in Star City. Clayface, Poison Ivy, and Killer Croc."

At this point, the front doors of the bank opened, and out stepped two masked guys wearing Christmas sweaters of all things. I quickly drew an arrow, aimed it at the ground in front of them, and fired. On impact, the arrow released a foam that engulfed the robbers' feet and legs. The foam then solidified, and the dumbstruck criminals immediately dropped the guns and money-filled suitcases they were holding onto the ground. "Idiots," I mumbled. "So I can understand how Clayface would get all the way from Gotham to Star without being noticed, but aren't those other two kind of conspicuous?"

"My thoughts exactly. I have Batgirl en route to track them down and question them, but she won't be able to apprehend them alone. I would have gone with her, but the League is handling an offworld threat. I'm needed here."

"You can count on me, compadre," I said, hearing police sirens in the distance. "I'm all finished here. Where do you want me to meet her?"

"There's a toy factory on the south side that was abandoned mid-construction because it-"

"Because it was a front for human trafficking. I know. Who do you think outed them and took them down? The Easter Bunny?"

"She'll be landing the Batwing on the roof. She's about nine minutes away. How fast can you get there?"

"I can be there in fifteen if I don't make any stops. You know how much I love catching baddies in the act. And getting donuts."

"I don't suppose Canary is available to help as well, is she?"

"As a matter of fact, she's on vacation. Went to Vegas with some friends. Don't worry, Batman. I got this."

"Thank you," he said before hanging up. A typical conversation with Batman. Short and to the point. No small talk, no "how was your day", not even a joke. Sometimes it frustrates people, but usually I don't mind. After all, he's a busy guy. He runs a big company, and he fights crime without superpowers. I can relate. So with that, I headed to the factory, leaving the bank robbers for the authorities.


	2. An Unexpected Team-Up

When I arrived at the location Batman gave me, I was a little surprised. The Batwing was nowhere in sight.

Curious, I reached for my earpiece. "Batman, can you hear me?"

"He's a little busy at the moment," said a voice behind me. I turned around to see none other than Batgirl, holding an arrow.

"Um, hi," I managed to say. "That looks like one of mine."

"I figured," she responded, holding it out for me to take. "After I showed up, I scouted the place out to make sure we'd be alone. Found it inside on the floor. I take it you've been here before?"

Accepting the arrow from her and sliding it into my quiver, I answered her. "Yeah, I took down a human trafficking ring here a few years ago. Batman and I were talking about it earlier. Where's the-"

"The Batwing? It's right here," she said, gesturing to her right. "New cloaking technology. Rannian, I think."

"Why is everything called the Bat-Something. Can't you guys be more creative?"

"This from the man who named his lair the Arrowcave. Ever heard of plagiarism?"

"Fair enough. Hey, how have you been? I think this is the first time I've talked to you since you recovered."

Looking away from me, she seemed to hesitate. "I'm fine," she said quietly.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to strike a nerve or anything."

"No, it's okay," she said, turning back to look at me again. "Readjusting has just been a little difficult. The hardest thing is remembering I can't park in the handicap spot anymore," she joked.

When Barbara Gordon was nineteen, she was gunned down by the Joker in her own home. He shot her in the spine, paralyzing her from the waist down. The Joker didn't know that she was Batgirl, though. He shot her because she's the Gotham City police commissioner's daughter, and he was trying to drive the commissioner insane. She spent the next five years in a wheelchair, helping out crimefighters as a hacker and information broker named Oracle. She also spent a lot of time going through intense physical therapy. She fully recovered about eight months ago, and accepted the title of Batgirl once again.

"We should get to work," she said abruptly. "We need to make at least a little bit of headway before we run out of sunlight."

"Of course. Do you know where the baddies were spotted?"

"The Killer Croc sighting was reported yesterday at Hideaway Corner. Clayface was seen at a bar uptown five days ago, and Poison Ivy was seen last week at the midtown zoo."

"So which one are we going after first?"

"I was thinking Croc. It was the most recent report, so he's the most likely to still be where he was spotted. What do you think?"

"I think you're right. Let's get going."

So we began moving northwest. After a few blocks, I suggested that we take a detour to get one of my cars. Not that I don't enjoy a good parkour session, but one of my company garages was close by. A car, I told her, would be a much faster way to get to Hideaway Corner. She declined, however, saying that she wanted the exercise.

Hideaway Corner is the location of an abandoned trainyard. It got its name because it's "hidden away" behind a bunch of trees at the edge of the city limits. I know, real creative, right? We made it all the way to August Park, two blocks from our destination, when Batgirl suddenly stopped moving.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You didn't hear that?"

"No. What-"

"Quiet," she interrupted. Her eyes darted around for a few seconds, then I did hear something. It sounded like bubbling water.

"Over there," I whispered, pointing to the pond in the middle of the park.

"You think it's Croc?" she inquired, as we slowly made our way to the water.

"Can he breathe under water?" I wondered. "I thought he was just an ugly cannibal, not an actual crocodile."

"He can stay submerged for hours at a time, but he'll have to come up eventually."

"Oh. Hours. Let's get comfortable, then."

"Hey!" someone shouted from behind us. We both quickly turned around and aimed our weapons.

"Woah, easy. I didn't mean to scare you," said the figure, coming closer.

"Superboy," Batgirl said, relaxing and placing her batarangs back in her belt. "What are you doing here?"

"Beast Boy and I are investigating a lead. When I saw people sneaking up on him, I figured you were gonna hurt him. I didn't realize it was you guys. Sorry."

"Beast Boy?" I looked back at the pond, and sure enough, out crawled a bright green crocodile that transformed into a bright green human. The irony.

"You didn't tell me you invited the in-laws, Conner." Beast Boy said to Superboy.

"Did you find anything?" Superboy asked him.

"Sure did," the shapeshifter answered, holding out his hand to show his teammate what he had found.

"Looks like a communicator," I piped in.

"It is," Superboy said. "It's Bumblebee's. She went missing two days ago. Red Robin picked up her communicator signal coming from this area, so he sent us to investigate."

"Interesting," Batgirl commented. She then turned her attention back to me. "Do you think that has anything to do with the escaped inmates?"

"Let's hope not," I answered. "Bumblebee's a firecracker, but I doubt she'd stand a chance against someone like Killer Croc."

"Killer Croc is here?" Superboy inquired.

"That's what we're doing here," responded Batgirl. "Batman received tips that Croc, Poison Ivy, and Clayface are in Star City. We're hunting them down to find out why."

"Well," came Beast Boy, "We don't have any other leads right now. Would you guys be upset if we asked to come with you? I mean, just in case they _are_ connected." He then handed the communicator he was holding to Superboy, who slipped it into the pocket of his jeans.

Batgirl and I looked at each other. "It wouldn't hurt us to have some extra backup," I noted.

"I'm okay with it if you are," she told me. I nodded, then she motioned for us to follow her, and darted in the direction of the trainyard, disappearing into the trees. The rest of us weren't far behind her.


	3. Crocodile Hunters

You know that feeling you get when you're watching a suspenseful movie, and you get to the part where you just know something's going to jump out and scare the living daylights out of you? You're expecting it, but you're still somehow surprised when it happens? That is exactly how I felt walking around in an abandoned trainyard just as the last bits of sunlight were disappearing from the sky.

As it quickly got darker and darker, I began to get jealous of my companions. Beast Boy had turned into an owl, Batgirl had activated the night vision in her cowl, and I can only assume that Superboy's Kryptonian "enhanced" eyesight included some form of night vision. I hadn't planned on staying out that late, so I wasn't at all prepared.

"Not to point any fingers," I whispered, "but we could have gotten here with some light left if we hadn't stopped for a stroll through the park."

"Killer Croc's eyesight isn't any better than that of a normal human," Batgirl answered me. "We have the advantage in the dark."

"Heads up!" announced Beast Boy, turning our attention to a boxcar flying towards us.

Up went Superboy, catching the car in midair and tossing it to the side as if he were simply unloading luggage. "Busted," he remarked. "Get ready for a fight."

On cue, the hideous beast that is Killer Croc came barreling towards us, knocking traincars out of his way like they didn't weigh upwards of twenty tons.

Without hesitating, I did what I do best. I fired an arrow. It was an exploding foam arrow, akin to the one I had used earlier in the evening to foil the overly festive bank robbers. Unsurprisingly, it didn't stop him, but it did exactly what I hoped it would. It annoyed him. He slowed down for about a half-second, then ran directly towards me. I watched as Beast Boy turned into a rhino, and once Croc was close enough, I jumped out of the way, and the green changeling hit the mutated monstrosity with full force.

After quickly getting back to his feet, Croc pushed Beast Boy aside, and Superboy flew down and began throwing punches. Superboy, not being quite as strong as the Man of Steel himself, seemed to be evenly matched with Croc. At least it seemed that way until the teenage clone reminded the monster that he had heat vision by giving a good dose of it to him directly in the face.

Croc was momentarily stunned, and we heard Batgirl's voice shout "Conner!"

Looking to where her voice came from, we saw that she had tied one end of a cable to a high point on a large oak tree, and was bringing the other end to Superboy.

Understanding what Batgirl wanted, Superboy took the cable from her hands, and pulled as hard as he could. The tree fell, and landed on top of Croc, pinning him down. He let out a grunt as it made contact.

"Alright!" I said enthusiastically, "That was fun. Now, to business." I drew another arrow, knockout gas this time, and aimed it at Killer Croc's head.

"We have some questions for you," Batgirl said to Croc, crouching down to be closer to his face. "First off, how did you get all the way here from Gotham City without being seen?"

Croc made a face that resembled a smirk. It was hard to tell, what with all the scales and the teeth. "You really think I'm gonna talk?"

"Yeah, we do," answered Superboy, his eyes glowing red as he prepared to blast the beast in the face again.

"Easy," Batgirl asserted, holding her hand up to calm Conner down. "Croc, you have two more strikes. Don't answer our questions, and Superboy gets to torture you to his heart's content."

"You won't let him hurt me too bad. You're a Bat. You're a goody goody who protects everyone no matter what," Croc growled.

"I wouldn't bet on it," Beast Boy chimed in, now in his human form again. "If Supey gets angry enough, I can't promise you we'll be able to hold him back. He's pretty famous for his temper."

"It's not like you're going anywhere soon. You may as well chat with us," I said to Croc, keeping my arrow trained on his ugly mug.

"Now," Batgirl continued, "Second chance. How did you get here without being seen?"

Croc let out a sound that seemed like a cross between a growl and a sigh, then spoke up. "After we broke out of the asylum, some little guy I never met before told me he had a plan. Offered real good money. Said he could get me from Gotham to here in the blink of an eye. He set up some kinda portal or something. That's how I got here."

"Did said little guy come with you?" I inquired.

"No. Didn't say why. Paid me in advance though, so I didn't really care."

"Could you describe him for us? 'Little guy' could be any number of people," said Batgirl.

"Real short. Short like a kid. He ain't a kid though. He's just short. Black hair. And he had a goatee, I think."

"Interesting," Batgirl commented. "Next question. Do you know anything about the whereabouts of a Teen Titan named Bumblebee?"

"Nope. Never even heard of her."

Superboy's eyes reverted back to their natural blue. He looked worried. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"I'm sure. I never heard of no Bumblebee."

"Alright, last question. Then we leave you alone," Batgirl went on. "Clayface and Poison Ivy. They were spotted in this city too. Do you know anything about that?"

"Yeah. I mean, kinda. What's-his-name told me there were others he was sending here. But I don't know why, and I haven't seen 'em. I've been hangin' around here all week."

"Thank you for your cooperation. Green Arrow, if you would," she said, standing up and stepping aside.

"My pleasure," I responded, finally releasing my projectile, and exposing the mutant to a gas that knocked him out almost instantly. "Cover your mouths, team."

It took less than a minute for the gas to disperse, then I spoke up again. "We need to get Killer Croc out of here. We're not that far from Arton."

"What's Arton?" asked Beast Boy.

"Star City only has regular prisons. The next city over, Arton, has a SuperMax prison where most of our metahuman criminals get moved. The city can't afford to hold onto them though, so they only stay there long enough for paperwork to get done so the perps can be moved to Belle Reve or wherever they need to be. Arkham, in this case. I'll call the authorities, let them know about Croc, then we need to figure out our next move."

"Our next move is rest. We have more work to do, but there's a lot of it," said Batgirl.

"So we go to my place, we get a good night's sleep, and we do our detective work in the morning," I postulated. "Boys, you're welcome to stay the night as well."

"Sounds good. You have extra bedrooms we can sleep in, or do we have to stay on the couch?" Beast Boy remarked.

"I'm a billionaire. I have extra _penthouses_ you could sleep in."

"Then it's settled," said Batgirl. "Lead the way."

"To the Arrowcave!" I exclaimed.


	4. Coffee

The Queen Estate. The luxurious home I inherited from my parents, conveniently situated away from the hustle and bustle of Star City proper. It always intrigued me how similar my life is to Batman's. The biggest difference, of course, is that he lost his parents at a much younger age, and the reason he took to crimefighting is because of what happened to them. I didn't lose my dad until I was out of college, and I didn't lose my mom until I was almost thirty. The reason _I_ took to crimefighting is to atone for my own mistakes. Sometimes I wonder if my parents' deaths were payment for me not appreciating how good my young life was compared to Bruce's.

Thinking back to my conversation with Barbara on the factory roof the previous night, I thought something that I had thought many times before. Maybe part of the reason I became a crimefighter is because of Batman. The secret Arrowcave, the short-lived Arrowmobile, even the idea of training a sidekick: Batman had done it all first. Maybe it wasn't "plagiarism", as Babs had so eloquently put it. Maybe it was more of a tribute, to the man who did it first, and did it better.

As I was standing in the kitchen on Sunday morning, thinking my life over for the millionth time, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Barbara with wet hair, having just taken a shower, and wrapped in one of my wife's bathrobes.

"Are you sure Dinah would be okay with me using this?" she asked me.

"Of course," I answered, smiling. "She would insist."

She smiled back, then smelled the air. "Are you making coffee?"

"Sure am," I said, stepping aside to show her the expensive coffee brewer on the counter. I turned back around and opened the cupboard, getting two cups out. "How do you like yours?"

"I'm not picky," she responded, making her way to the middle of the kitchen and taking a seat at the island counter.

There was silence for a moment, as I prepared both cups of coffee the way I preferred, then I turned to face her again. This may have been the very first time I had ever gotten a good look at Barbara without her mask on. I had found out her secret identity during her Oracle years, and I was vaguely aware of what she looked like because of her friendship with Dinah, but I had never gotten a chance to study her features the way I had Bruce and some of the others.

"How did you sleep?" I asked her, trying to break what I perceived as a rather awkward silence.

"Good enough. It took me a while to actually get to sleep. I normally stay up a lot later than that."

Walking her coffee over to her, I opened my mouth to say something like "I do too," but before I spoke, we were greeted with the sound of someone stumbling down the stairs.

In walked Beast Boy, still half-asleep, and still in his black and purple outfit. "What… what's for breakfast?" he asked, trying desperately to keep his eyes open and not fall over.

"We have coffee," I said, sitting down opposite Barbara. "If you want food, I suppose we can stop somewhere on the way out. Where's Conner?"

"He's on the phone. He said he has to tell the Kents why he didn't come home last night," said Beast Boy, crossing his arms and leaning in the doorway. "Are you sure you don't have anything I can eat? Cereal or something? I've got a pretty high metabolism."

Sighing a little, I told him which cupboards and drawers he could get a bowl, some cereal, and a spoon from, and I looked back at Barbara. "Alright, first things first. What do we know so far?"

"Practically nothing we didn't know before. We know that Clayface, Ivy, and Croc are in this city, and they got here by unconventional means."

"Karen was probably in the city at some point too," piped Beast Boy, referring to Bumblebee. "Her communicator was in the pond at the park."

"You said she had been missing for two days," I said to him. "And you," I continued, looking at Barbara this time, "said that two of the escaped Arkham patients, maybe all three, have been here longer than that. Could we assume that maybe Bumblebee was in town investigating the same thing we are?"

"Maybe, but why would she do that without letting the other Titans in on what she was doing?" Babs postulated.

"We do have one thing," came Conner's voice from the same doorway the rest of us had come through. "When Croc was telling us about how he got here, he gave us a suspect."

"And who would that be?" I asked, as we all turned to face him.

"The only person I know that fits the description Croc gave us is Doctor Psycho," Connor stated, making his way to the island, choosing to stand rather than sit on a stool like the rest of us. "A short man, with black hair and a goatee."

"That would explain the portal thing too. Psycho always has a hand in experimental tech," Barbara noted, putting her coffee down and resting her head on her hands. "Where was his last known location?"

"Last I heard, Superman had handed him over to the police, but he escaped again," the Boy of Steel responded. "He's been on the down low for months."

After a much shorter silence than the one before, Barbara, unsurprisingly, was the first to make a suggestion. "I think we should look for at least one of the other two Arkham escapees today."

"Which one?" I asked her. "You said that Clayface was sighted more recently, but if you ask me, he'll be much harder to find."

"Then it sounds like we have a decision," she said with authority. "We're going after Poison Ivy."


	5. A Trip to the Zoo

There have been many times when I wished I had superpowers. Many, many times. Sure, I'm in excellent physical condition, and I'm probably the best archer on the planet, but neither of those things really come in handy for a low key surveillance op. Especially when your job is to just sit there in a car, watching the exit, while the people you're working with are out patrolling the area.

Now obviously, Barbara didn't have powers either, but of the two of us, she seemed less likely to be recognized by anyone at the Star City Zoo. That meant that she could move around more freely, and cover a lot of ground without attracting much attention.

Beast Boy and Superboy, on the other hand, definitely had superpowers. Beast Boy had turned into a fly, which meant he could cover even more ground and attract even less attention than Barbara, as long as he stayed away from the hungry reptiles and amphibians. Superboy was stationed on the north side of the zoo, where the employee entrance and animal hospital were located. His job was similar to mine, only a little bit more involved. With his x-ray vision, he could see inside the various buildings, which meant he would know if Poison Ivy was hiding in the area. He just had to make sure he stayed hidden.

"So how long do you suppose this is going to take?" I asked, making sure my earpiece was secure, and leaning my seat back to get comfortable in the low profile sedan we had brought from my place.

Barbara, who was about to enter the zoo through the main gate, turned to look in my direction. The gate was about a hundred yards from where I was parked, so even if she hadn't been wearing sunglasses, I wouldn't have been able to see her face clearly. "There's no way to know. We could bump right into Ivy, or we could be here all day and never see her."

"I don't know about you," came Superboy's voice, "but I would rather not be here all day."

"Agreed," said Barbara, turning back around to move forward with the crowd. "It should take about two hours for Beast Boy and me to cover the whole zoo. After that, we'll reconvene at Oliver's location. Beast Boy is already inside. Conner, are you in position?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Once I'm inside, we need to maintain radio silence unless something important happens. The employees have walkie-talkies, and I don't know what frequency they're on."

Superboy and I both agreed, and I watched as Barbara purchased a ticket and went through the gate.

The next twenty-three minutes felt like an eternity. Almost nothing even remotely interesting happened. I saw a couple of teenagers getting escorted out by a security guard, and I watched an old lady who really shouldn't have been driving take way to long to park her car, but aside from that, nothing.

Finally, I heard two things in my ear. The first was Beast Boy's voice. "Guys, I found someone," he said, breathing heavily, "but it's not Poison Ivy."

The second thing was a noise I instantly recognized. I had heard it a few times before. Underscoring Beast Boy's panicked voice, I heard the growl of a cheetah.

I immediately hopped out of the car. If it was really _the_ Cheetah I had heard, then Beast Boy was in real trouble. I had to move quickly. Looking around to make sure no one was nearby, I crouched down behind the car and tore off my jeans and hoodie, revealing my Green Arrow getup underneath. I pulled my mask out of a pouch on my belt, put it on, then threw my civilian clothes back into the car. As I opened the trunk to get my equipment, I heard Barbara ask where Beast Boy was located, to which he responded, "Monkeys!"

After retrieving my bow and quiver, and closing the trunk, I sprinted toward the gate. Luckily, it had gotten a little less crowded than before, so I was able to get through with relative ease. I did quickly slip the ticket booth attendant some money, so as not to set a bad example, then I continued on my way.

"Hey, it's Green Arrow!" I heard someone shout.

"Sorry folks, no time to chat," I managed to say, as I looked up at a large map kiosk. You would think that not only being native to Star City, but even once having been its mayor, I would have been to the zoo enough times to know how to get to the monkey exhibit, but such an assumption would be wrong. As luck would have it, before I had enough time to get my bearings, I heard the sound of people screaming. "That must be it," I said out loud, running toward the noise, determined to make sure Beast Boy had help.

Now, the thing about determination is that sometimes, you get so focused on one thing that you fail to notice something else. Something could easily go wrong, and you can be stopped in your path by something you completely forgot about. In this case, the thing I forgot about was what we had come to the zoo for in the first place, and I was quite literally stopped in my path. A vine shot out of a nearby cluster of trees, and before I knew what was happening, I had tripped and fallen. When I looked up, I saw the pale green, sinister, yet gorgeous face of Poison Ivy.


	6. Too Easy

"Green Arrow," came Poison Ivy's breathtaking, sensual voice from her equally breathtaking face, "We finally get to do this one-on-one. You're cuter than I remember. Care to find out if you're any match for me?"

I got to my feet as quickly as possible and dodged another vine attack. Putting my hand to my ear, I called out to my companions, "More bad news. Ivy's here!"

"Superboy," came Batgirl's voice, almost breathless, "I'm with Beast Boy. Find Arrow."

"Right," Superboy answered, and in a few seconds, he was by my side.

"Oooh, a Super," Ivy noted. "The more the merrier!"

"Hands off. He's underage," I deadpanned, finally firing an arrow as we both moved toward her. She dodged it, moving right into Superboy's path, and he charged at her. He pinned her against a wall, but he seemed to hesitate.

"What's the matter," Ivy condescended in a pouty voice, "Too good to hit a lady?" She moved her one free hand to her face, and seemed to blow Conner a kiss.

He took a step back, apparently stunned, and Ivy moved toward me again. This time, I drew a sonic arrow. Once again, I fired, and once again, she dodged it.

"Tsk tsk, Arrow," she laughed a little, "I thought you had better aim than that."

This had happened too many times to count. I fire an arrow at something other than my opponent, they think I miss, something amazing happens, and they're taken by surprise. Instead of spouting off a snarky comment like I normally would, I just smirked.

The arrow landed at Superboy's feet, and let out a sonic emission painful to the ears.

I was more or less unaffected, partly because I covered my ears, and partly because doing countless missions with Black Canary had made me almost accustomed to such a noise.

Poison Ivy was affected in the same way most enemies were. She covered her own ears and screamed angrily.

Superboy was affected in a different way. The noise was especially painful to his sensitive hearing, and it managed to snap him out of whatever trance Ivy's toxins had him in. He crushed the arrow under his foot, silencing it, then in the blink of an eye, he was at Ivy's side again. He grabbed her, spun around, and threw her back in the direction of the entrance plaza. She collided with the map kiosk. I picked up the first arrow I had shot at her, and we both rushed toward her again.

She began to stand up. I stopped in my tracks and fired a third time, this time pinning her to the kiosk by the folds of her skimpy leaf-outfit. "Tsk tsk," I echoed, "I thought you knew better than to mock my aim."

Ivy opened her mouth to say something else, and Superboy gave her a light jab to the face. Well, light relative to him. She was out cold.

"The Cheetah," I suddenly said, looking at the teenage clone who had made this fight with one of Gotham's worst almost too easy.

We both turned to head toward the monkey exhibit, and we saw a green horse with none other than the Cheetah unconscious on its back. The horse, obviously Beast Boy, was running next to Barbara, who had also changed into her crimefighter getup.

"We need to get these two out of here," she said sternly.

"I'll catch up with you guys," said Superboy. "I'm gonna make sure everyone here is okay."

"Good call," replied Batgirl. She looked at me now. "Where's the nearest place to safely interrogate these two?"

"There's a storage unit about a mile southeast from here," I answered, leaning down to retrieve my arrow and pick up Poison Ivy in my arms. "I keep some supplies there. It should do fine."

As we made our way out to the parking lot, Batgirl spoke up again. "I don't like this. Beast Boy and I took down Cheetah together in almost no time."

"Us too," I answered. "That's suspicious enough, but Cheetah was in Belle Reve, not Arkham. If Doctor Psycho is behind this, how much ground has he covered?"

"Maybe it's a distraction?" chimed in Beast Boy, who had reverted to a human and was putting the Cheetah in the backseat of the car. "It would make sense to get all kinds of bad guys here to draw our focus away. Not just Bat-enemies. He would want everyone paying attention to this."

"Which would mean whatever this is, it's going to be big," I said.

Batgirl nodded, and Superboy suddenly landed beside us.

"Guys, I got another tip," he said. "A woman said she saw somebody shapeshift in an alley the other day."

"Clayface?" I inquired.

"She didn't say. But she did tell me she was on Thompson Street when she saw it."

"Did she say how long ago this happened?" Batgirl asked.

"She said 'last week'."

"Could be a trap," said Batgirl.

"The other tips weren't traps," said Beast Boy.

"The other tips also weren't given directly to any of us. Batman picked them up from calls made to the police."

"I say we worry about Ivy and Cheetah for now," I suggested. "If it is a trap, we aren't falling for it. At least not yet. If it's not a trap, then Clayface is likely to be somewhere else by now anyway. Thompson Street is downtown, nowhere near where he was spotted last time, which would mean he's moving around pretty freely."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and we all piled into the sedan once more.


	7. Quick Questions

"Let me go!" demanded the terrifying but somehow not unattractive human-beast hybrid known as the Cheetah. She had just come to, and she was tied up back to back with Poison Ivy. "Where am I!?"

"Come on, you know how this works," I playfully scolded. "We ask the questions here."

"And if I choose not to answer?" she asked, struggling to escape from her whatever-the-hell-Batgirl's-grappling-line-is-made-of binds.

"You're going back to Belle Reve regardless. The better you cooperate, the smoother your ride there gets to be."

"Like you'll hurt me too badly. I know you people."

"Didn't we have this same conversation with Killer Croc?" asked Beast Boy, laying on the ground in a relaxed position.

"Whatever. Let's just ask her the questions and move on," growled Superboy, standing behind us all, arms folded.

"Cheetah," came Batgirl, "what were you doing at the zoo?"

"Having a nice time until you all showed up," came the expectedly snarky reply.

"Very funny. How did you get there?"

The Cheetah hesitated.

"Barbara," Batgirl said sternly.

"Doctor Psycho," the she-beast sighed. "He came to me in my cell."

"How?" I asked.

"He used a portal. He told me he had a plan to get rid of Wonder Woman for good. Then he left, but his portal stayed open, so I left too. I ended up in Star City, but I don't know where he went."

"This plan," I inquired, "did Psycho elaborate on it?"

"He told me there were others he was recruiting, but he didn't say who."

"That doesn't help us. We already know who," said Beast Boy, nodding toward the still unconscious Poison Ivy.

"We already knew _all_ of this," said Superboy, stepping forward and clenching his fists, each word coming out of his mouth more angry than the last. "It _is_ the same conversation we had with Croc. We're not any closer to finding Bumblebee!"

"Clayface," groaned Ivy.

"Well, look who decided to join us," I said, making sure to speak to her before Superboy did. "Ivy, can you tell us anything we don't already know?"

She looked around for a moment, as if trying to get her bearings despite being inside a rented storage unit, then she spoke. "Clayface would know about Bumblebee."

"Explain," Batgirl commanded, clearly also not wanting Superboy to get a word in and blow his top.

"Some short guy broke us out of Arkham-"

"Right, right. Doctor Psycho. Prison break. You, Croc, Clayface," I rushed. "Psycho has some mysterious plan, opens some portals, sends you to Star City. Now what's this about Bumblebee?"

"He broke Killer Croc out first, but from what I hear, Croc didn't care about this guy's plan. He left as soon as he got paid. After he broke Karlo and me out, I wanted to hear what he had to say, but he started going on about quantum something or other. It bored me, so I left too. I heard him say Bumblebee's name to Karlo, but I didn't catch the context."

"Karlo is Clayface, right?" asked Beast Boy, who had managed to get Superboy to take a step back. Batgirl nodded yes, and BB clapped his hands together. "Great! Now all we have to do is search the whole city for a guy who could look like literally anyone!"

"After we take care of these two," I gestured to our captives.

Superboy was all too happy to gently knock the baddies out again. While he and Beast Boy moved the two villainesses back outside to the sedan, I took the opportunity to stock up on whatever supplies I thought might be useful against an almost liquid shapeshfiter.

"Must be weird to have the same name as a bad guy," I said to Batgirl. I referred, of course, to Barbara Minerva, the Cheetah. "Whenever I meet another Oliver, I feel like I should immediately establish dominance."

"Minerva said something about Wonder Woman," Batgirl quickly got back on topic. "I think Beast Boy is right. Whatever Psycho is trying to distract us from, it's big."

"The good news is Diana is currently off-planet with the rest of the Justice League. He can't get to her."

"The bad news is that means we're going to have to spring whatever trap he has for her."

"He won't see us coming though. He probably expects a League response. A Teen Titans response too, now that we know he definitely has something to do with Bumblebee disappearing."

"Now we need to find out what exactly." Batgirl paused for a moment, quickly forming a plan. "Let's take Ivy and Cheetah to Arton SuperMax ourselves. I bet they have computers that I can use to tap into Star City's grid."

"And you can use your Oracle skills to find Clayface. I like it. Go Team Arrow!"

"We are so not calling ourselves that."


	8. Hacking the Grid

_**Look, full disclosure, I don't know anything about computers, hacking, or anything like that. It's a miracle I've figured out how to even upload things to this website. Can you really hack into a city's grid using computers in a prison in the next town over? Probably not. But this story has superheroes, portals, and sexy green women, so let's suspend our disbelief. Cool? Cool.**_

"So how do you want to handle this?" I asked Batgirl. "I've been here before. The people that run this place are pretty laissez-faire about us masked types, but they're not gonna let us just stroll in and use their computers."

"I've done this kind of thing more times than I can count," Batgirl said smugly. "We need to distract as many people as possible, but we also need to make sure that Ivy and Cheetah make it to the holding cells without any trouble. Superboy is our best bet there."

"So… what exactly do I do?" Superboy asked. "Just carry them in and hope-"

"You don't _hope_ for anything. You _insist_ that you go with the guards to the cells," I told him. "With your strength, and that S on your shirt, they'll let you. In fact, they'll probably need your help if these two start to stir."

"Right," came Batgirl, "and a Super in the holding cells will attract _some_ attention, but if Arrow and I want to make it to a computer, we'll need a _real_ distraction."

Beast Boy smirked. "So what do you want? A dinosaur? I haven't gotten to be a dinosaur in a while."

"Think smaller, kid," I said. "We don't want them to panic. We just need them curious enough to leave their posts."

"Gotcha. Ostrich it is," the changeling said, giving us a thumbs up.

"Not great, but it'll do," said Batgirl. "Okay team, let's go."

If I could put the sight of the four of us stepping out of a station wagon in full hero getup into words, I would. I imagine if anyone had seen us, they would have been amused. I personally was amused by Superboy attempting to pick up and carry two unconscious women as respectfully (read: visibly trying not to touch their butts) as possible.

As soon as we felt that BB and Supes had drawn enough attention, Batgirl and I made our way towards the entrance, and ducked inside.

"This way," I said quietly, motioning for her to follow me. "There should be a computer down this hallway."

Sure enough, we rounded the corner and found what we needed. "This should only take me a minute or two. Stand watch," Batgirl directed.

"Of course," I obliged, turning my attention away from her and toward the hallway.

I counted the seconds in my head as she worked her Oracle magic. The sound of keystroke after keystroke was the only thing either of us heard. I knew better than to ask any questions about the process. I likely wouldn't understand anything she told me anyway. I've never been much of a computer guy.

Roughly two minutes later, she spoke up. "Alright, I'm in."

"Is that like the hacker motto, or what?" I joked turning to face her.

"It might be," she smiled. "Now, this," she said, showing me a small device that she plugged into a USB port, "is going to transmit directly to the Batwing. I'll have real time access to Arton's _and_ Star City's cameras from the sky."

"So you and one of the kids patrol high. I'll take the other, and we'll stay low."

"Right."

As we rushed to exit the way we had come in, a thought struck me. "Wait. What if someone here finds that transmitter?"

"I fry it," she said, gently tapping a pocket on her utility belt. "Remote self destruct."

"Neat."

When we finally made it outside, we looked toward the car to see Superboy waiting patiently.

"It's time to go," I called to him, heading in his direction. "Where's Beast Boy?"

Superboy shrugged, but it didn't matter. The sound of gunshots gave us our answer. We all turned to look in the direction they had come from, and we saw a group of guards chasing something in the grass. They were headed our way.

"Dammit, Gar," Superboy mumbled.

Suddenly, what had been the snake the guards were chasing turned into a bird and flew up into the air. The guards continued shooting, which made the rest of us have to duck.

"'Dammit Gar' is right," I said. "What part of 'don't make them panic' didn't he understand?"

Batgirl rolled her eyes. "I hate having to fight the good guys." She reached into her belt and pulled out a small grenade. She tossed it towards the guards, and the air around them filled with smoke. "We need to go," she directed. It was amazing how well she kept her cool.

We all rushed back to the sedan and piled in. We were able to get away, but not without the car getting decorated with scratches and bullet holes.

"Great. I'm not gonna be allowed back there for a while," I remarked.

"I swear I didn't mean to scare them," Beast Boy defended himself. "They got really close to me. My 'fight or flight' impulse can be different depending on what animal I am."

"It could have gone better," Batgirl said, "but we completed our goal. Now we move on to finding Clayface."

"So where are we headed?" Superboy asked.

"HappyStar Toy Factory," I answered.

"What do we need at a toy factory?" Beast Boy asked.

"The Batwing," I replied. "We're going to split into pairs and track down Clayface, hopefully without any more surprises."

"The Batwing!?" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Batman's big plane thing? I've always wanted to ride in that!"

"Sorry, Gar, but you should be on the ground with Arrow," Batgirl said. "Since he knows the city, and you can shapeshift, you two can get around discreetly enough, even in the daylight."

"So I'm riding with you?" inquired Superboy.

"Well, no," came Batgirl again. "You need to fly in the open, in case you need to reach somewhere that the Batwing can't. You'll be able to keep up, right?"

"Is that a joke?"

"Well, can we at least stop for lunch somewhere?" Beast Boy asked, clearly disappointed.

"Yes, Beast Boy," I chuckled. "We can stop for lunch. I hope you like drive-thru."


	9. Spawn Point

"Okay, now that's cool," Beast Boy said. He was in awe of what he had just seen, and rightfully so. He and I had watched as Batgirl quickly and gracefully grappled to the top of the toy factory where the Batwing was sitting. It was cloaked using alien technology, and by simply pressing a button on her belt, she had made it appear. The sleek, blueish-black flying machine was like something out of a sci-fi movie. Then, just as gracefully, she had jumped in and taken off. The Batwing was out of sight in almost no time, with Superboy trailing closely behind it.

"Very cool indeed. There goes George Jetson, and _we_ get to be the Flintstones," I remarked, gesturing to our battle damaged sedan. "Want to come with me to go pick up a better ride?"

"Might as well. I'll need to stay close to you on patrol anyway. I don't know this city like you do."

"No one does," I said proudly. "Come on. You finally get to ride shotgun."

"You know what?" Beast Boy spoke up after we had climbed back into the car and started to drive. "I don't really know you, dude. Until now, I've only seen you because we have mutual friends. Like _I'm_ friends with Roy, and _you're_ friends with Roy…"

" _Friends_ is a bit strong," I commented.

"Well, we both know him. And I used to see you with him all the time, but I don't think you and I have ever really talked before."

Beast Boy was correct on both counts. Firstly, we _did_ both know Roy Harper (AKA Arsenal, formerly Red Arrow, formerly-before-that my sidekick Speedy). Roy and I didn't have the best of relationships, which is all that needs to be said on the matter. Secondly, I _didn't_ know Beast Boy very well. We had crossed paths on several occasions, as people in the hero business do, and I was generally aware of his powers and his reputation, but honestly, I couldn't remember ever speaking to the boy before last night.

"Surely we've worked together," I said, "We must have, right?"

"Maybe for something super serious. You know, one of those 'all of existence is threatened' type deals, where pretty much _all of us_ have to work together."

"Sure."

"But we've never been, like, on the same team."

"Well, it's good to finally get to know you, Beast Boy."

"You can call me Gar," he said. "Or Garfield, if you want to be proper."

"Oliver," I responded. "But not Ollie. You have to work your way up to Ollie."

"Well, _Ollie_ ," he said jokingly, "There's something else I just thought about. All three bad guys so far have said that they came to Star City through a portal."

"Right."

"Well, do you think the portal opened in exactly the same place every time? Like an enemy spawn point in-"

"In a video game," I nodded. "That's an interesting thought. There's no reason that our bad guys couldn't have spread out _after_ arriving in the city. But where would this 'spawn point' be?"

"The zoo?" BB wondered.

"I don't think so. If Killer Croc had been at the zoo, some of the animals would definitely have been eaten."

"Well, somewhere near the zoo, then. I mean, what are the odds that two of the bad guys would end up there?"

"You could be onto something, Gar," I noted. "That's one more question we'll have to ask Clayface. And if you're right, and he tells us where our 'spawn point' is, we might have a chance to go directly to Dr. Psycho."

"And Bumblebee," Gar said hopefully.

"And Bumblebee," I agreed.

It wasn't long before we reached our destination. When I parked the car, Beast Boy looked confused.

"Another storage facility?" he questioned. "I thought we were getting you a different car."

"I never said car," I corrected him. "Wait here."

Gar did as he was told, and I made my way into the facility. "Let's see, twenty-eight, twenty-nine…" I read aloud as I walked by the numbered units. "Here we are."

As I unlocked and opened my unit, I heard Batgirl's voice in my earpiece. "Green Arrow, good news," I heard her say. "We have a location."

"Well that didn't take long," I answered.

"Clayface is a showoff. He was bound to reveal himself," she said, almost chuckling. "How quickly can you two get to Valley Road?"

"Midtown? Pssh, five, maybe six minutes," I said, locking the storage unit and walking what I had acquired back out to where my companion was waiting.

"Excellent. See you there."

When Beast Boy saw me, his eyes got wide, and I smiled a proud smile.

"That is the coolest bike I have ever seen," BB said, trying not to shout. "Don't tell Batman _or_ Red Robin that I said that."

"It's the green, right? Really makes it pop," I bragged. "I figure if I'm gonna drive around in broad daylight, I might as well do it in style. Garfield, say hello to the newest Arrowcycle."

"You gotta get better at naming things, dude."

"Do _not_ start _that_ conversation with me," I said, glaring at him.

"Well, what about this car?" BB asked, slapping the roof of the sedan.

"We can leave it here. After this whole adventure is over, I have a guy that can fix it up, no questions asked. I have a question for you, though: what's the fastest animal you can turn into?"

"Peregrine falcon," he answered. "Over two-hundred-forty miles per hour, max airspeed."

"Excellent. We have to get to Valley Road, fast."

"Yeah, I heard Batgirl," he said, tapping his own earpiece.

"I have a feeling you were right about the portals, Gar," I told him, mounting the bike and starting it. "Valley Road is only two blocks from the zoo. Something tells me our mystery is one step closer to being solved."


End file.
